Cleaning attachment for type wheels



June 20, 1950 w. .1. KEUPER CLEANING 11111011111111 1 1m TYPE mums Original Filed April 5, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FlG.i

INVENTOR. WILLIAM J. KEUPER H is ATTO R NEYS June 20, 1950 w. J. KEUPER 2,511,921

CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPE WHEELS Original Filed April 5, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. WILLIAM J. KEUPER H l 5 ATTORNEYS Patented June 20, 1950 CLEANING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPE WHEELS William J. Keuper, Cincinnati, Ohio, assignor to The National Marking Machine Company, Cincinnati, hio,a corporation of Ohio Original application April 5, 1944, Serial No.

529,882. Divided and this application February 1, 1946, Serial No. 644,893

3 Claims. 1

My invention relates to improvements in a laundry marking machine and has to do, more particularly, with improved means for cleaning the excess ink from the type wheels so that it will not drain into the type wheel setting and printing means. The invention, moreover, pertains to an additional function of the cleaning device in aligning the set type wheels.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 529,882, for improvements in Laundry Marking Machines, filed April 5, 1944, and now Patent Number 2,443,426, issued June 15, 1948.

The marking machines used for printing on fabrics require pre-inked type applied directly to the fabric, and constant use causes considerable excess ink to accumulate on the type because all is not transferred to the fabric. In the ordinary marking machine the type wheels are mounted vertically side by side on a horizontal shaft for complete rotating and excess ink carried to the top will drain by gravity into the setting and printing mechanism.

The principal object of my invention is to provide means for cleaning the type wheels of excess ink so that in whatever direction they are rotated, no ink will be carried to the top position to drain into and gum up the operating parts of the machine. Another object of my invention is to provide such cleaning mechanism in the form of rollers which are so located that when selected type are adjusted manually to the approximate printing position the rollers will engage in the spaces between the individual type on the wheels and act as alignin means for the said type wheels.

Further objects, and objects relating to details of construction and economies of operation, will definitely appear from the detailed description to follow.

I have accomplished the objects of my invention by the devices and means set forth in the following specification. My invention is clearlydefined and pointed out in the appended claims.

A structure constituting a preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical, sectional view through a typical laundry marking machine, parts being shown in side elevation and other parts being partly broken away.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2- of Fig. 1 and shows the type wheels and one of the cleaning rollers.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view, taken on the line 4-l of Fig. 2 showing the resilient mounting for the axle of one of the cleaning rollers.

In the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the several views and the sectional views are taken look-- ing in the direction of the arrows at the ends: 01 the section lines.

In general, my invention relates to the class of laundry marking machines having a platen upon which articles to be marked may be sup ported, movable to and from printing position and in which, when the platen is in printing; position, it may be moved toward selected type to carry the article thereon against the type. and take an impression therefrom. The printing type are mounted on the peripheries of type wheels, rotatably mounted vertically and side by side on a horizontal shaft. These wheels are rotatable individually to bring selected type to printing position. The type wheels are selectively rotated by means of connections with manipulative setting wheels which project from the upper portion of the housing of the machine, which means though shown in the drawings are more fully described in my copending application, Serial No. 529,882, referred to. One of the difiiculties which has been experienced in laundry marking machines of this class having printing type on the peripheries of vertically mounted type wheels, is that, when the type are in a position above the axle on which the type wheels are mounted, surplus ink tends to drain from the type down into the gears in the driving mechanism, to gum up this mechanism.

To eliminate this difiiculty, I have provided a pair of type-cleaning rollers each of which engage the peripheries of all of the type wheels which rollers are both located below the horizontal plane including the axis of rotation of the type wheels, one of these rollers being located. in front of the printing position, which is near the bottom position of the wheels, and the other behind it, so that no matter in which direction; the type wheels are turned to the printing position, the type formerly at printing position; cannot get above the axis of the type wheels;

without passing over one of the type-cleaning; rollers and having the excess ink removed there-- from.

These rollers extending across the wheels are resiliently pressed toward the wheels, so that. they will tend to fall toward the center of rm tatlom Inasmuch as the individual type on each wheel is elevated creating low places between them, when an approximate setting has been manually made the rollers bring them to exact position.

Referring'to the numbered parts of the draw ings, the machine has a base 3 (Fig. I) from which frame side members 9, one of which is .shown, extend upwardly. Secured to the frame side members are the housingside members ill]:

:and H (see also Fig. 2) in which are journaled the shafts of the type settingmechanism. ,Fig. 1 .shows this housing as cutfawayat liad'jacent the printing position, and the upper portionpf the housing is also cut away at [5a to permit 1 access to the setting wheels.

A platen-carrier ['5 is pivotally mounted on the base 8, said pivot point not being shown in the drawings, and supports the platen l8, upon...w l 1ich .the articles to be marked may be held by the i.Operator. ,The, platenv is rocked to the left, as shown in Fig. l, by the operator and. thereafter .sby mechanismmore fully described in my application referred to ,above' being I givenv ajprinting movement toward'printing. point A. Included in :the. connections lfor supplying pneumatic pres- ;sure t'ofloperate theiplaten I8, is a valve 23 havfing-acontrol plunger 2 l,..which is depressed, to open valve23, whe'nthe platen-carrier is in printing position, all under control of buttons 20, one of which is shown.

horizontal'shaftfis, mounted in the housing side ine'mbersYltl. and "i l, and extending transversely. of the" housing carries a plurality of type 'Whe'els'f'ZE rotatably mounted therein side by side, and ea'ch'of these wheels has on its periphery a plurality of 'circumierenti'ally spaced raised printing type 22 withprinting characters thereon, said spacing providing an aligning depression between each two adjacent'type. 'Agear 28 is fast to the side, of each type wheelflZfi, coaxial'therewith.

.A' horizontal shaft29 is mounted in the housingfside members is and ii, parallel to shaft 25, an'd'extends transversely of the housing. A plurality of intermediate gears 38 are rotatably jmounted on"sha'ft"'29, there. being one of these gearsf'w for meshing with each ofthe type wheel gearszs.

.A-ho'rizontal setting wheel'lshaft 3| is mounted 5 in the housing side members'ifl and II parallel to shafts""25 .andif2il, and a plurality of setting wheels 32g are rotatab? mounted on said shaft parallel to :each oth-er;.the peripheral ortions of 1 said Wheels projecting from the upper portion of "the. housing through the openin lfia'formed itherein for'that' purpose. There'is one of these gsettingwheels for each of the type'wheels and (each setting wheel ,hasgonits, periphery indicia 133,: infithe form of' characters which correspond ito the characters onthe-printing type 2?,- and rwhich'are arranged on thesetting wheel in the 4 sighting bar 36; which extends across the periphcries of the setting wheels 32 in front thereof, and has the sight aperture 31 therein through which the indicia on the setting wheels may be viewedbytl e operatorfrom the irontpf the machine. Ifhis sighting gbariis so located and the indicia are so placed on the setting wheels, that, when certain characters are visible through the sight opening 36, the setting wheel 26 will be ad-' justed so that the printing type having the same within the,rang e of aligning influence of the cleaning rollsto-be described.

In order to lock the setting wheels with the printing-wheels, inaligned position, I provide an pinsA i. Qnehfthese bore;45

pivotv rgdll'! extends through the bore 49 and has'.a,threaded e'ndjffi screwed into the threaded .socket' i aligning bar at-38, positioned by a toggle device consisting of a pair of hell cranks, one of which 21 is 's h( )wn, journaled on a shaft in the side members l0 and II and which bell cranks are e s a neihaedl herin fl e e in n tions with saidshaft upon which said bell cranks are :arried. ,fljhe complete mechanism of the ali ment' locl; is gnore particularly described in r fycopending application, Serial No. 529,882.

t Q escribe the novel cleaning ea ing rollersai and EM are pro- 'vide'd and xpgs 'oned to engage the faces of the p inting type onitype ,wheelsfli, so that, when the type are moyedjin either direction from printing: hositionAIthey will pa ss a cleaning roller thejnkfwillbe removed therefrom before said type'move above the horizontal plane inc1uding;the, axis of the type wheel. Both of theseltype-cleanin rollers lie below said horizontal planejandfare located on either side of the pri nt point. '."l? he mounting of these two type 'cleaning rollers isidentical and illustrated in Fi gs. 2,' 3 and4. "Bores {it are formed in bosses insidehthe housing side members I!) and H, in which thepos'ts ll are slidably mounted.

Ihese,pDsts,,.are. secured toyokes 42 and 42a, in

which bearing vlolo'olie'lifi are pivotally secured by bl -ZhsAL has a threaded ilejth'e other has a smooth bore 46.

inthe other bearing block. This pivot rod has'a; thumb'screw ASwith a knurled edge.

A plurality of rollers fill, one for each of the typeflwlieelsizfi are journaled side by side on the pivotrjod tl n'd each roller is covered by a layer of .feltj54,,wh chjconstitutes the cleaning surface thereof. The posts 41 extend inwardly and have compressionsprih sfil, thereon and are held between shgulderslod the bosses and collars 52 pinnedpn ;the innerends of saidposts, whereby the type-cleaning roller as a whole, is

yieldingly held lagai nst the peripheries of the type wheels. Each of these type-cleaning rollers is so lopated that when type are manuallymoved to printing position in apprOXimate alignment, s i r l s Wi en a the. d re between curasrand th e s he di app o i a a e .meri iin l' ierarel chedithsr n b jthepo it alignin bar 33 (Eig. 1 Housings 53, secured to theside members It and II, embrace and enclose, .the ,outer ,,portions ,of said type-cleaning rollers,thuspreventing accidental contact there- ..n 1embers;l0.and llof theihousing,and support i .75 with.

Posts, like post Ill shown in Fig. 1, mounted on the platen-carrier 11, support, on their upper ends, a casing for an inking roller. This inking mechanism which is indicated generally at 56.

includes an inking roller which is so supported that, as the platen-carrier moves to and from printing position, the inking roller will roll over the faces of the selected type that have been brought to the printing position. An ink-replenishing device, indicated generally at 51, is provided, and includes a wick-fed inking pad 58, one end of which extends into a reservoir 59 containing ink. The pad 58 is so located that the inking roller contacts it after the inking roller has passed over the selected type. The means for inking the type is more particularly described and claimed in my pending application for U. S. Letters Patent for Laundry Marking Machine, Serial No. 548,863, filed August 10, 1944 which has matured into Patent Number 2,470,622, May 17, 1949.

The operation of this laundry marking machine, and, in particular, the operation of the type-cleaning rollers, should be quite apparent from the description given above. The type may be selectively brought to printing position by manipulation of the setting wheels 32 which also serve as indicating wheels. The article to be marked are to be held by the operator over the platen 18 while he grasps the handles l9 and moves the platen to the printing position in line with selected type which has been brought thereto. The platen is pneumatically projected upwardly, carrying the article against the faces of the selected type to take an imprint therefrom. When the operator, by manipulating setting wheels 32 adjusts the type wheels so that the type bearing the same characters are brought to the printing line, they are cleaned and aligned by rollers 54 and 54a. The handle 39, having been previously moved to withdraw bar 38, permits rotation of the intermediate gears 30. The handle 39 is then rocked to lock the setting wheels and type wheels against movement.

The type faces cannot pass from printing position into the zone above the horizontal plane including the axis of the type wheels, without passing one or the other of the type-cleaning rollers 54 and 54a, and, because of this, the type which lie above said horizontal plane will not have any excess ink thereon. Accordingly, there is no chance for ink to drain from the faces of the type down into the gears and operative mechanism, to gum up the machine.

Whenever the platen is moved to printing position, the inking roller engages the ink pad 58 to receive a supply of ink from said pad. This contact is suflicient to keep the inking roller well inked, and it will ink the type faces freshly every time the platen-carrier moves from the out-ofprinting to printing position.

I am aware that the invention described and illustrated herein may be varied considerably without departing from the spirit of my invention, and, therefore, I claim my invention broadly, as indicated by the appended claims.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a laundry marking machine having a plurality of type wheels rotatable about a horizontal axis and having spaced printing type projecting from the peripheries thereof and means for adjusting said wheels by rotation in either direction to bring selected type into printing position, the

combination of a pair of type-cleaning rollers, one on each side of printing position, and engaging with the peripheries of said type wheels, means for mounting said rollers for rotation about axes parallel to the axis of said type wheels and lying in a horizontal plane located above said printing position and below the horizontal plane including the axis of the type wheels, said rollers .being so mounted that, when selected type are located in printing position, the peripheral surfaces of each of said rollers will contact the proximal edges of two adjacent printing type on each of said type wheels, and means for resiliently urging said rollers into contact with the edges of said printing type whereby the type on each type wheel is yieldably maintained in alignment with the type on each of the other type wheels by the detenting action of said type-cleaning rollers thereon.

2. The invention as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said type-cleaning rollers comprises a plurality of coaxially arranged felt discs.

3. In a laundry marking machinehaving a plurality of type wheels rotatable about a horizontal axis and having spaced printing type projecting from the peripheries thereof and means for adjusting said wheels by rotation in either direction to bring selected type into printing position, the combination of a platen movable from a rest position to an effective position in which said platen lies beneath the type standing in printing position, an inking roll associated with said platen and movable therewith for applying ink to the type standing in printing position each time said platen is moved from said rest position to said effective position, a pair of type-cleaning rollers, one on each side of printing position, and engaging with the peripheries of said type wheels, each roller comprising a plurality of coaxially arranged felt discs, means for mounting said rollers for rotation about axes parallel to the axis of said type wheels and lying in a horizontal plane located above said printing position and below the horizontal plane including the axis of the type wheels, said rollers being so mounted that, when selected type are located in printing position, the peripheral surfaces of said rollers will contact the proximal edges of two adjacent printing type on each of said type wheels, and means for resiliently urging said rollers into contact with the edges of the type whereby the type on each type wheel will be yieldably maintained in alignment with the type on each of the other type wheels by the detenting action of said typecleaning rollers thereon.

WILLIAM J. KEUPER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 424,851 Bradford Apr. 1, 1890 1,143,768 Lang June 22, 1915 1,389,215 Payne Aug. 30, 1921 1,442,098 Sague Jan. 16, 1923 1,710,551 Rawson Apr. 23, 1929 1,728,826 Gruttman Sept, 17, 1929 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 21,463 Norway Oct. 10, 1910 

